Gary O’Neil has discussed his thoughts regarding what he’s described as a ‘big call’ in giving crucial minutes to youth.
As the minutes ticked down in the FA Cup for Wolves with a 1-1 scoreline against Brentford, Gary O’Neil decided to give 20-year-old Tawanda Chirewa a run out with the senior side.
Chirewa joined Wolves in September as a free agent after he had departed Ipswich Town, Since then he’d been training with the first team while playing for the U21 alongside the odd bench appearance for O’Neil.
In November, the Wolves boss was full of praise for the youngster as he claimed he’d ‘progressed’ so well and hinted at opportunities on the way for him.
Now he’s had a brief opportunity, but it was just a minute in the FA Cup tie. Despite that, O’Neil is still proud of the young player and admitted it was a big call to bring him on.
Gary O’Neil lauds Tawanda Chirewa after ‘big call’
Express and Star have reported O’Neil’s comments on just how pleased he was at how well Chirwea did against Brentford.
“It was a big call, you don’t want to set a young lad up for a fall, throw them on and they make a little mistake or give a free-kick away and Brentford score the winner,” O’Neil said when asked about Chirewa’s debut.
“You don’t want to open them up to that but Tawanda has shown enough to me in training and I was comfortable putting him on the pitch in an incredibly important moment in the game.
“I’m pleased for him and know the lads were pleased for him to get his debut. It’s a big achievement getting a debut in a team and squad as talented as this when you’re a young lad coming through the academy. I’m pleased for him.
“I’ve seen enough to trust him in those situations”.
Chirewa should be in line for more opportunities
Despite O’Neil’s comments, he only gave the 20-year-old a minute which isn’t that big of an opportunity.
We’d like to see him play a bit more going forward, especially in games where there’s a substantial lead, if he’s on the bench we might as well use him.
Given these comments, it’s hard to imagine O’Neil isn’t planning on playing him a little more so it’ll be interesting to see.